AutHer Awards 2024 winners announced

The AutHer Awards, a joint venture between The Times of India and JK Paper, celebrates women authors who have added value and creativity to the literary space. 

From authors, publishers, academicians, and book lovers to bureaucrats, politicians, and artists – the fifth edition of AutHer Awards was attended by some of the biggest names in the literary world. 

The gala winners were announced for four major categories – fiction, non-fiction, children’s literature, and debut. A lifetime achievement award, a prize in the popular choice category (based on an online poll), and a best manuscript award were also given.

The AutHer Awards 2024 Best Author Fiction was given to two women authors this time. While Tashan Cyrus Mehtawon the award for Mad Sisters of Esi (published by HarperCollins India), Sonora Jha won the award for The Laughter (published by Penguin Random House India).

The AutHer Awards 2024- Best Author Non-Fiction went to Sudha Bharadwaj for From Phansi Yard: My Year with theWomen of Yerawada, published by Juggernaut Publications.

The AutHer Awards 2024- Best Author Debut Award was also awarded to two women writers– Rajasree Variyar won the award for her book The Daughters of Madurai (published by Hachette India), and Neerja Chowdhury won the award for How Prime Ministers Decide (published by Aleph Book Company).

The AutHer Awards 2024 for Best Children's Author was also given to two women writers! Author Devika Cariapa won the award for her book A Children’s History of India in 100 Objects published by Penguin Random House India, while Shabnam Minwalla won the award for Zen, which is also published by Penguin Random House India. It is noted that Shabnam Minwalla had also won the AutHer Award in the Children's Literature category in 2022 for her book Murder at Daisy Apartments.

The Popular Choice Award was won by Sahar Zaman for her book Talat Mahmood: A Definitive Biography (self-published), for garnering the maximum number of votes online. For the unversed, Sahar Zaman is not only a popular news anchor but also the grand-niece of the acclaimed singer Talat Mahmood.

Veteran Indian novelist and Sahitya Akademi Winner, Mridula Garg was awarded the Lifetime Achievement Award this year for her timeless contribution to Indian writing in both English and Hindi languages.

And lastly, the AutHer Awards 2024 for Best Manuscript was introduced last year to recognise and inspire budding writers to let their imaginations soar. Last year’s winner in this category, Aditi Sowmyanarayan, got a chance to work with the wonderful team of Readomania and JK Paper.Aditi’s book was published by JK Paper and supported by publisher Readomania.

This year, the AutHer Awards 2024 for Best Manuscript was given to Vibha Sangeeta Krishnakumar for Kaushalya. Meanwhile, Ananya Raghu was awarded a Certificate of Excellence for Havoc.

The longlist, shortlist, and winners for AutHer Awards 2024 were chosen after multiple layers of screening, followed by detailed discussions among a panel of eminent jury. This year, The Times of India received more than 2,000 entries, submitted by both publishers and authors, for the coveted women writers awards which is the first of its kind in India. The jury considered books by women published in India between December 2022 and November 2023.